In the last four days, the US Border Patrol has detained 25 Cuban rafters. This Tuesday, officials from the Miami sector “took 12 migrants into custody” after making landfall on the island Llave del Pan de Azúcar, according to agent Walter Slosar, which also announced that the “investigation is still ongoing”.
The arrival of these rafters came days after 10 Cuban nationals made landfall on Tuesday night in Key West. Slosar explained that the arrival took place aboard a homemade boat built with polystyrene foam. “This is a dangerous journey through the Straits of Florida aboard a homemade ship.”
In your social networks Slosar shared on May 30 the image of a precarious boat, in which he specified, three Cubans arrived in Key West after a three-day journey on the high seas. “As summer temperatures rise, this becomes an increasingly dangerous journey,” he noted.
The exodus of rafters has intensified in the last month, as well as repatriations. This Thursday the Coast Guard reported the return to the Island aboard the ship Paul Valentine of 40 people. Lt. Travis Poulos warned that “as hurricane season progresses, these trips will become even more treacherous.”
Through a statement, Poulos, a lieutenant with the 7th Coast Guard District, reiterated: “These people are lucky to be alive after making a dangerous journey in unpredictable seas.”
The repatriated Cubans were intercepted in two operations. Last Monday, eight miles south of Key West, the crew of a Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations ship rescued, without specifying the number, several rafters. On Tuesday, the Coast Guard located another crude vessel about 20 miles south of Boot Key.
Since Oct. 1, 2021, Coast Guard crews have intercepted 2,103 Cubans trying to enter the United States illegally by sea, compared to 838 in the previous fiscal year.
Last week it was announced that the Coast Guard returned to the island the Cuban boxer, Adrian Lescayafter spending seven days aboard an American Coast Guard cutter.
On the last day of May, the deportation was reported on board the ship Paul Clark of 99 rafters arrested in seven interceptions off the Florida Keys. Non-commissioned officer José Hernández indicated that due to the exodus of migrants, “air and surface patrols in the Straits of Florida, the Windward and Mona Passages” were increased.
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